Having been a nerd for far too long now I am constantly bewildered by the number of people using the 1.6x firmware release for the NAVi GT GPS. This firmware is not yet approved (as a formal release) by the GPS manufacturer (Locosystech) for use on their hardware.
I know those involved in developing the firmware are keen of a large tester user base, but is feedback about discovered errors being tracked or do people just swear at the GPS and try again?
Does this invalidate results from NAVi GPS's using the 1.6x firmware? As this is beta firmware it could be argued that the results could be inaccurate as it is not a formal release and unsupported by the manufacturer.
Are you disadvantaged by using the 1.5 formal release?
Does it have the BIG numbers?? Those big numbers are a big advantage.
Then there's the latest speed genie development, that is also a big advantage, negates the awkwardness of using the toggle thru the aquapac.
Not to mention the datalogger that gives almost 11hrs of data on the internal memory, against the 2.5 standard. Its recording is cyclic so you don't have to remember to clear track data to have a backup.
Think it's also been established that the doppler data is more accurate.
So for me if the formal release hasn't caught up with these developments I'd be disadvantaged.
Agree with Decrepit, every new version seems to get better and better.
Feedback about bugs is being tracked by Dr. Tom Chalko here: http://mtbest.net/setting-up-navi-GT-11.htm , and is usually discussed on GPS-SS here www.gps-speedsurfing.com/gps.asp?mnu=forum&smnu=1 .
Personally I like the later versions as they have addressed the "Data doesn't appear on card after a massive session" bug that has bitten me in the past.
The main reason for not being "officially released" by Locosys is that most of the changes that are being made, are specifically for windsurfing. As such, during a early course of discussions (between Tom, Locosys, GPSSS, etc) the decision was made that only one website would host the binary.
Since Tom and quite of few other sailors are doing the predominate testing of the new features, and that Tom in particular in managing the feature/bug list, it made sense to host the binaries on his site.
It is expected that once the firmware revisions stop coming frequently, Locosys will make a formal update onto their website. I dont know when this may occur, AFAIK Locosys wasn't expecting such high demand for the GT-11, ie: they sold out, so they are doing pretty much everything the windsurfing community wants.
The quality of the data shouldn't be affected in any major way, although there are some specific issues that we (the windsurfing community) wanted fixed, ie:
- increase data-logger time (about 7.5 hours)
- not failing to write to the SD card
- bigger fonts
- 10s max speed (implemented as configurable time)
- some other stuff.
Occasionally there have been "write failures" (for want of a better description) that have occurred for a given release; usually the next release fixes the problem.
Back in the real world, the recommendation is to use the latest firmware revision as (usually) it will be better than the previous version. Any bugs will usually be found quickly as there are now plenty of us using the GT-11, ie: if you have a bug report let Tom (or at least one of the forums) know about it so that it can be chased up.
westozwind,
Have a look at this thread in GPS-SS that addresses this exact issue.
"Should I use the latest Firmware with my GT-11?"
www.gps-speedsurfing.com/default.aspx?mnu=forum&forum=6&val=5520
Thanks Guys,
Looks like I'll be trying the latest updates.
Is mtbest.net the best place to get the latest firmware?
Very interesting Mr Decrepit! Do you use the 'on fix' function or is that full logging? I guess that would make a difference but it is entirely possible that the newer SBP file format has gotten a bit more compact and no one else has done the sums. :-)
I know its current, as I share my GPS with another team member each time and use the card file OFF and card file ON-FIX to generate a separate file for each of us.
